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The Crystal Palace Massacre

I ended my last blog (post Leicester game) with the following paragraph…

Under Alan Pardew it seemed we were watching a club in pain and losing any fight they once had; the fans cared - there was still time to save the club, they vented their anger at the people they felt responsible - be it the owner, the manager, or the players. Under McClaren we seem to be watching a club a step beyond that and in palliative care, the fight seems to be over. We accept there is now nothing we can do and are simply watching the club die a long, slow death.

Unfortunately now I think we are one step beyond that and we have had a “do not resuscitate” tag put on our big toe. There is no hope left, the club is breathing its last shallow breaths and relegation is a certainty.

I’m writing this blog the morning after the Crystal Palace trouncing. I watched the match yesterday in some kind of demented bemusement. We scored out of nowhere; I didn’t even celebrate, you know what my first thoughts were? We have scored too early, they’ll hammer us now. How right I was.

No player came out of that game with any kind of merit; every single one of them was woeful. I have never seen a more inept performance in my life. Don’t get me wrong, Crystal Palace are a good side, they have some fabulous, strong, skilful attacking players, a solid midfield and a steady defence. Other than the forced “ goal celebration” music and cheer-leading, I’m actually quite jealous of them. Come on lads, this is a football game, when you score a goal do you really need music being pumped out of the speakers to prompt you that something good has happened?

I was reading the internet forums and Twitter after the game and a few, not a lot, but a few, were commenting on how they wish Alan Pardew was still manager, how that it was disgusting he was hounded out of the club; the poisonous vile aimed at him was the catalyst for him leaving. Absolute rubbish. The catalyst for the vile being aimed at him was the shoddy performances on the pitch and the constant lies in the press (you do remember he blamed the fans for us conceding a late goal to Crystal Palace due to us being “too excited” don’t you?). No, Alan Pardew might be a good Crystal Palace manager but he was an awful Newcastle United manager and I for one am glad to be rid of him.

Be careful what you wish for eh? Yes, I accept that; I was in full support of Steve McClaren but one of the running themes of this blog is how, so far, McClaren has managed to keep the majority of fans on his side. So far this season we have put in some half decent performances and been unlucky not to take more points in quite a few games; there was promise, some signs of encouragement, a glimmer of hope. That’s over now, gone, completely finished. The last two performances have shown the players up to be spineless, heartless and gutless. They have no fight, few want to play for the club and quite frankly, I find it hard to put my full support behind them right now. I suspect the dwindling support that McClaren had has now gone.

Who is to blame for this? Mike Ashley of course. The buck stops with him.

In my last blog there were a few comments made at how Newcastle United fans should boycott the games. After all boycotting is the only way to remove Mike Ashley right? No of course not. For one, getting 50,000 people all to boycott a match is just not going to happen; not everyone is against Mike Ashley and not everyone believes a boycott will work. From a financial point of view of course it won’t work; out of the 50,000 regular attendees to the match I’d have a guess that 40,000 them are season ticket holders; Mike Ashley already has their money - what will not attending achieve? Nothing. Also, these days the ticket revenue is minimal compared to sponsorship and TV income. If fans don’t buy tickets it will hit Ashley hard but not hard enough. The bottom line is Ashley is here to stay; he said it himself, until we win something he will be staying. Ashley’s name has been muck in Newcastle for the majority of his tenure. There have been protests, there has been persistent bad press, bad PR - nothing works. He is staying.

You know what will scare Mike Ashley? Relegation.

Mike Ashley won’t want to be relegated again as that will potentially be a killer blow financially. In the Premier League he gets to showcase his brand to the billions around the world. Being in the Premier League allows him to fund signings without breaking in to his own stash of money. There is big, big money in the Premier League. We bounced back first time in asking last time but there’s nothing to say it will happen again. Relegation will be the ultimate disaster for Ashley and as far as I am concerned, it is inevitable this season.